Lost Bones
by Renoirkmk
Summary: Bones gets amnesia and now he can't remember the past three and half years. Can Jim help him remember? What secrets about McCoy's life before Starfleet will revealed?
1. Chapter 1: The Accident and the Results

**Disclaimer: If I owned **_**Star Trek: 2009**_**, this would be in the next movie, not on .**

**Chapter One: The Accident and the Results**

Leonard "Bones" McCoy, chief medical officer of the _USS Enterprise,_ swore as said ship gave another violent lurch. They were making their way through a particularly nasty ion storm. Already sickbay was more than half full with injured crewmembers. In Bones' experience there would be another wave of personnel once the _Enterprise_ was out of the storm and people realized that they were hurt. He hit the intercom. "Sickbay to bridge. Jim, are you trying to put a hole in this ship," he half-yelled, half growled.

"Relax, Bones. We'll be out of the storm in another couple of minutes," replied Jim Kirk, captain of the _Enterprise_. Bones grumbled at that and looked around sickbay. The injuries sported by the crewmembers weren't too serious – the worst hurt had some hairline fractures and would be back to work before they knew it. He spotted his head nurse, Christine Chapel, and waved her over.

"As soon as they've been treated." Bones was abruptly cut off as the ship gave its most shudder yet. Dr. McCoy was thrown sideways and a loud crack was heard as his head collided with a nearby biobed. Chapel let out a small scream as Bones collapsed, unconscious. Christine called for Dr. M'Benga, the doctor just under McCoy in authority. Together they got the CMO onto the biobed that had knocked him out. M'Benga studied the vital signs on the monitors above the bed, his sharp-featured, ebony face serious.

"Doesn't look too bad. There's a good amount of swelling near the temporal lobes, but we won't what kind of effect it'll have on Dr. McCoy until he wakes up," M'Benga told Chapel, "We'd better tell the captain that he's hurt. I'd rather that Captain Kirk doesn't find out when he comes to sickbay to check on injured crewmembers."

Christine nodded and headed to the nearest intercom unit to inform Kirk that his best friend was now a patient in his own sickbay.

"Sickbay to bridge."

"This is the captain. What's up, Chapel?" Up on the bridge, everyone was relieved to have made it through the storm relatively unharmed. At the helm and navigation stations, Chekov and Sulu were exchanging weary grins and at communications Lieutenant Uhura was gathering damage reports. "I'd thought it'd be Bones complaining about the rough ride," Jim added with a grin. Nurse Chapel's reply wiped that grin off Kirk's face and replaced it with a much more worried frown.

"That's just it, Captain; Dr. McCoy was injured during that last rough patch."

"What? How badly is he hurt?" Kirk's voice clearly betrayed the concern he felt.

"He hit his head and was knocked unconscious. There's a fair bit of swelling around the temporal lobes and until he regains consciousness, we won't know how it'll affect him," she replied. Jim was already out his chair and halfway to the lift as he absently gave Spock command.

"Kirk's on his way to sickbay. He'll be there in a few minutes," Uhura informed Christine.

Jim's face was a stony mask on his walk to sickbay. He barely noticed the crewmembers who saluted him on his way – all his thoughts were focused on his CMO. M'Benga met him as he entered sickbay.

"He hasn't woken up yet, sir, and I'm not entirely sure when he'll wake up. But it should be soon," M'Benga informed his captain.

"I'm going to sit with him until he does, M'Benga."

The pair reached McCoy's biobed. Kirk studied his friend and noted that McCoy's face was much more relaxed and peaceful than when he was awake. Jim sat in the chair next to the biobed and began his vigil.

-------------A few hours later-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The first thing McCoy noticed was the soft hum of various machines and the clean, antiseptic smell of a medical facility. He slowly opened his hazel eyes and realized that while he might be in a medical facility it was most definitely not Atlanta General. A growing awareness that he was being watched had Leonard turning his head. A young man with blonde hair and the bluest eyes he'd ever seen was sitting next his biobed. McCoy saw that he was wearing a gold Starfleet uniform. The man smiled as realized that McCoy was awake.

"Bones! It's about time you woke up, you lazy bastard," he greeted.

"Bones? I don't know anyone called Bones, who are you, and where the hell am I? " Leonard demanded. He noted that man's blue eyes widen slightly in surprise.

"Don't joke that, Bones it's me, Jim. You're on the _Enterprise_. Where else would you be?" Jim replied. McCoy felt a block of ice settle in his gut as the young man – Jim – told him that he was on board what he assumed was a starship given Jim's wardrobe choice. Leo didn't do ships. How in the blazes had he gotten on board in the first place, he wondered.

"Why do keep calling me Bones? My name's Leonard McCoy. And far as I know I should be in Atlanta right now," he growled. If this was someone's idea of a joke there was going to be hell to pay. Dr. McCoy noticed that Jim was becoming worried by the way Jim fidgeted with his shirt sleeve and the amount of time it took for him to reply.

"Bones is your nickname. I gave to you the first time we met. And we're about two months' travel from Earth right now."

"I don't see how you could've given me a nickname, seeing as I don't recall meeting you before now, Jim," McCoy said. At this, Jim's eyes widen further and he seemed to get lost in thought. His next question threw Leo for a loop.

"What year is it?"

"What year is it!? It's 2254," Leonard responded and watched as Kirk slowly shook his head.

"Nooooo, it's 2258," Jim informed him.

"Bullshit."

"You just woke up from hitting that skull of yours pretty hard. That could explain your confusion."

"I'm not confused. There's no way I'd ever get on a starship even if it is four years in the future."

"You did. And it is." At this, Dr. M'Benga approached.

"How's Dr. McCoy, Captain?" he asked. Captain, thought McCoy, how can that be. He doesn't look any older than 25!

"Pretty grouchy. He's got amnesia – doesn't remember the last four years." Jim answered. M'Benga began to examine Leo, taking note of the vitals displayed above the biobed, checking his pupils, and asking him questions to test his mental functions. The longer the exam went on the more annoyed McCoy became. Finally, M'Benga finished.

"Aside from the memory loss, which most likely isn't permanent, you're perfectly healthy, Doctor."

"Could've told you that myself," McCoy groused.

"Is there any way to speed up his memory recovery, M'Benga?" Jim questioned.

"It's best to not force the memories to come, that will happen on its own, as swelling around his temporal lobes goes down. But familiar surroundings might help," was M'Benga's reply.

"So does this mean I can Bones back to his quarters?"

"I don't see why not."

Leonard was getting tired of having the two of them talk about him as if wasn't there. He cleared his throat, loudly. M'Benga and Jim turned to look at him.

"Okay, so I've got amnesia. But how in the seven hells did I end up on a goddamned starship?!" McCoy growled in frustration.

"It's a long story, Bones. I'll walk you back to your quarters and tell it to you there." Jim replied, with worry written across his face.

To Be Continued

-----------------Author's Notes---------------------------------------------------------------------------------So what did you all think? Good, bad, or indifferent? Reviews, suggestions, and constructive criticisms are welcomed. Reposted with minor edits.


	2. Chapter 2: Explanations and a Memory

**Disclaimer: See Chapter One**

**Anything written in bold and italicized is a flashback.**

**Chapter Two: Explanations and a Memory**

M'Benga released McCoy from sickbay and allowed Jim to escort the doctor to his rooms on the _Enterprise_. McCoy followed Jim out and down the hall with growing impatience. He didn't believe that anything could have persuaded him into willing boarding a starship, for Christ's sake. Leonard did notice that the personnel they passed saluted Jim. They entered a lift and Jim turned to face him. Apparently he noticed the irritated scowl on McCoy's face because he asked, "What's bothering you the most?"

"What in hell am I doing on a goddamned _starship_?" growled out of his throat.

"Easy, you're in Starfleet," was Jim's quick reply. Leo looked down, and saw that he was, indeed, wearing the blue uniform that Starfleet assigned to its medical and science officers.

"And you're captain of the _Enterprise_," McCoy muttered, remember M'Benga calling Jim that.

"Yup, Captain James Tiberius Kirk, _USS Enterprise_, that's me," Kirk replied and Leo could hear huge amount pride and awe in voice. "You're her CMO," he added.

"Her what?" Dr. McCoy asked, genuinely confused.

"Chief Medical Officer," Jim elaborated. McCoy was surprised at that. He'd figured that he was a passenger on the _Enterprise_, being taken to a Starbase or other outpost. Leonard had thought that even if he was in Starfleet he'd work to be assigned to something that didn't fly. The lift came to a stop and the pair exited. Jim led the way to a door a short distance from the lift. McCoy watched as Jim entered a code into the panel located next to the door and it slid open. "After you," he said, with a smile and a slight bow. McCoy just raised a brow and entered the room. Jim followed, and the door slid shut behind him. Leo studied the room around him, trying to get a feel for the man who lived there. He also reminded himself that **he** was that man.

The room itself was neat but lived in – while there weren't any piles of clothes or stacks of PADDs lying around, there was a book on the nightstand and the bed wasn't made to the strictest of standards. McCoy had never been able to live in a mess but, on the other hand, being too **rigidly** neat made him twitchy. There were plenty of holos and photos scattered around the room. Leo moved in to study the nearest one, and it showed him and a four-year-old girl in front of an entrance to a zoo. The girl had the same hazel eyes, brown hair, and mouth that he did. He realized with a start that the girl had to be his daughter, Joanna. Leonard knew this was more proof of the fact that he'd lost four years' worth of memories because he couldn't remember a single thing about the day that picture had been taken. He turned his attention back to the rest of the room. There were actual medical texts on the shelves – he'd always preferred real paper to PADDs – along with novels by his favorite authors, Hemmingway, Steinbeck, Twain, and Fitzgerald, among others. Another holo caught his eye and he crossed the room to get a better look. Leo picked it up of the shelf it was sitting on and examined it. It was a holo of himself and Jim, sitting underneath a large oak tree, sporting identical exhausted smiles, and an arm around each other's shoulders. As he studied the holo a memory surfaced.

_**He was being forced out of the bathroom of the recruiting shuttle by one the crew. He was hung over, had two days' growth of beard, and most definitely did not want to sit anywhere that offered a view. The small officer marched him out the bathroom while a litany of complaints escaped his lips. When she asked him, again, if he needed a doctor, he exploded.**_

"_**Are you people**_** deaf**_**?" he yelled. "I told you I don't need a doctor, dammit! I **_**am**_** a doctor!"**_

_**Kindly but firmly, she led him toward some the last remaining seats. "You need to find a seat. Sir, for your safety, sit down, or I will **_**make**_** you sit down. Right **_**now**_**."**_

"_**I **_**had **_**one," he asserted vehemently. "In the **_**bathroom**_**, with no **_**ports**_**. I suffer from aviaphobia, which, in case you don't understand big words, means 'fear of flying.'"**_

_**Jerking him around roughly, the frowning crew member propelled him in the direction of one of the last empty seats. This seat was right next to a young, blonde man who looked like he'd gotten in the way of someone's fist more than once and recently. He dropped into the seat, and muttering under his breath, he strapped himself in. Done, he gripped the armrests so hard his knuckles turned white. He was also aware that of fact that he was sweating heavily. Finally, he took noticed of his extremely curious neighbor and offered a highly unusual greeting.**_

"_**I may throw up on you."**_

"_**Nice to meet you, too. Wouldn't be the first time that's happened," the young man replied agreeably. "I'm sure we're completely safe. This model's been around for a long time."**_

"_**Don't pander to me, kid," he snarled in reply. "One tiny crack in the hull and our blood boils in thirteen seconds. Solar flare might crop up, cook us in our seats. Hell, some of the damn passengers are **_**blue**_**. And wait till you're sitting pretty with a case of Andorian shingles, see if you're so relaxed when your eyeballs are bleeding. Space is disease and danger wrapped in darkness and silence."**_

"_**Well, I hate to break this to you, but Starfleet operates in space. Are you sure you didn't apply for a job with the Chicago Transit Authority?"**_

_**He relented a little. "Yeah. Well, I got nowhere else to go; the ex-wife took the whole damn planet in the divorce. All I got left is my bones."**_

_**Smiling, the younger man extended a hand. "Jim Kirk."**_

_**Exasperated, he eyed Jim warily, then nodded and took the proffered hand. "Leonard McCoy."**_

As McCoy came out his reverie, he realized that Jim was staring.

"Did you remember something?" Jim asked curiosity and concern mingled on his face.

"Yeah. The first time we met on the recruiting shuttle." McCoy sat himself on one of the two chairs and gestured for Jim to do the same.

"I mentioned that I was divorced in the memory. Did I ever say why?"

"Never. All I know is that it wasn't amicable and the only good thing that came out your marriage was your daughter. You're one of my closest friends, Bones, but you don't like talking about it. Since I understand how aggravating it is to have people pester you to talk about something you'd rather not, I haven't pushed." Leo pondered this for a moment, wondering what had happened to Jim to make understand that because it was plain to him that Jim was empathizing with him not sympathizing. Whenever something life altering happened to him, he preferred to left alone to sort through his thoughts first before he talked to anyone. He wondered what Jim had gone through, to give him the same preference.

"What happened to you? Because most people would rather open up and talk than be alone to think, when something life changing happens." Leonard asked. Jim was silent and McCoy worried that maybe he'd overstepped and would get some sort fluff answer or Jim would change the subject.

"A lot of shit. My dad was George Kirk – the hero of the _Kelvin_, so I never had chance to know him. My mom wasn't the same after; it was like when Dad died some part of her died too. She remarried when I was five to Frank Boyle. What she sees in him I haven't a damn clue. Frank's an asshole who shouldn't have been given a license to breathe, much less marry. He's built like a bull and isn't what you'd call a **benign** dictator. Once she'd remarried, she decided that she start going on long missions because Frank was to watch me and my brother Sam.

When she was gone Sam and I got turned into Frank's personal punching bags. He didn't do it when she home but she never home for more than a couple weeks at time and he'd let up on the beatings when her visits started getting close, so our bruises would have a chance to fade. We both ended up in the ER several times, but Frank made sure that the staff thought it was our fault we were there not because he'd beaten us. Sam was four years my senior and ran away when I was eleven. So then I Frank's undivided attention. I was twelve when I overheard Frank talking about selling my Dad's antique Corvette. It was of the few things of his that Mom couldn't part with. I was pissed because I knew Mom would never part with but Frank was just thinking about the credits he'd get it. So when I saw that he'd keys in the ignition when I was washing it, I got in and took it for a joyride. I ended up driving it over cliff but managed to jump out before it over. The police officer who'd been chasing me took me back to Frank and, man, was Frank pissed.

That beating he gave might've killed me if that policeman hadn't comeback to ask Frank some more questions. As it was I ended up in the ICU with a cracked skull, broken jaw, ruptured spleen, and several broken and cracked ribs. I got plenty of visits from social workers and doctors, who wanted to know how I was feeling and what else Frank had done to me. They tracked Mom down and when she got there she told me I'd be going to live with her brother and his family. Anything that got me away Frank was fine by me. I guess she couldn't find the courage to divorce him, but she only lived with him for maybe six weeks a year.

So I got shipped off to my uncle Ryan O'Sullivan and his family. They lived on Tarsus. I was the only one who survived Kodos and his executions. So there's my story." Jim finished relating his tale and leaned back in his chair, watching McCoy's face. McCoy was partly aghast at Jim had gone through and partly amazed that Jim had managed to survive all of that. The Tarsus IV disaster had made headlines for weeks once it had been discovered. Carefully keeping anything that could be construed as pity out of his voice because Jim would get upset and McCoy couldn't blame – he didn't anyone's pity over anything he'd gone through.

"Alright, I see how you understand." McCoy held back a yawn as realized just how tired he was. Jim must have noticed and his next comment confirmed Leo's suspicions.

"I'm gonna let you get some sleep. M'Benga would have my hide if I keep you up too long. You're gonna need all the rest you can get; tomorrow you're getting a tour of the _Enterprise_ and it'll help you heal faster." With that, Jim stood and left the room. Leo decided to follow Jim's advice, since the exhaustion that had snuck up on him had him struggling to keep his eyes open. He found some clothes to sleep in without any trouble, as he'd put everything away where he'd thought he would. Tomorrow would interesting and maybe he'd get some more memories back, he thought as he crawled into bed.

--------------------------Author's Note-------------------------------------------------------------------------What did you think? I can't believe I wrote _and_ posted the second chapter in a week! I hope I can keep this up! As always, reviews, suggestions, and constructive criticisms are welcomed. Most of the dialog and descriptions for the flashback came from the novelization and


	3. Chapter 3: Day Two

**Disclaimer: See Chapter 1**

**Anything written in bold italic is a flashback.**

**Chapter 3: Day Two**

McCoy awoke with muzzy remnants of last night's dream still in his head and slightly disorientated. It took him a moment to remember the events of yesterday. Of waking up in a starship's medical bay and being informed that _he_ was the man in charge of it. Of finding out that four years had apparently passed and he had no recollection of it. He'd listened to the _Enterprise_'s captain, Jim Kirk explain what was going on and got a short reversion of the man's life story. Jim had taken Leo back to his quarters and McCoy had recalled meeting Jim for the first time.

Leonard levered himself out of bed and headed for the bathroom. Half an hour later, he emerged clean, shaved, and dressed. He wondered when Jim would arrive to start showing him around the _Enterprise_, as he'd promised yesterday. He looked around the room, studying it more closely than he had yesterday. He noted that while there were plenty of holos and photos of him with Joanna or people he assumed were friends – but not a single one of Jocelyn. The divorce must have been horrible if he wouldn't keep a photo of Jocelyn and Joanna somewhere. Leo walked over to a baby picture of Joanna and picked it up. In the photo Joanna looked to be about six months old and was smiling at whoever had taken the picture. McCoy's eyes lost their focus as a memory surfaced.

_**He entered his home, an old farmhouse that had been in his family for generations, feeling completely spent and there was a migraine brewing behind his eyes. He'd just finished a 72 hour shift in the ER that had included a major accident involving a shuttle bus and several air cars. All he wanted was to shower, take some pain pills, and sleep for about twelve hours. He'd just made it to the bottom of the stairs when Jocelyn appeared in the kitchen doorway. **_

"_**Do you have any idea what time it is?" She screeched. He sighed; it looked like his hope to get upstairs unnoticed had been in vain. He turned to face his wife.**_

"_**Jocelyn, I know it's late –"he began, only to be cut off.**_

"_**Late! LATE! You were supposed to be home yesterday!" was the shrill reply. He was particularly cranky right now and wasn't in the mood for one of Jocelyn's tantrums.**_

"_**There was a major accident – maybe you saw the news? - And the ER was flooded with patients. I couldn't just leave! I'd have been in deep shit with my boss if I had!"**_

"_**We had planned to go out last night! For our anniversary!"**_

"_**Jocelyn, tomorrow I will take you anywhere you want. Just let me get some sleep." He promised with weary resignation. He'd promise her almost anything right to now – to get her to shut up and so he could get some much needed sleep. He hoped that Joanna hadn't been woken up by their shouting.**_

McCoy started as he came out his reverie and placed Joanna's picture back down. If that memory was a common example of what his marriage had been like at the end it was no wonder that they'd divorced. He wondered what the final push to divorce had been. Leo spied a chronometer on the wall and saw that it was 07:55. Leo hoped that Jim would show up soon. He needed to talk to someone and maybe that promised tour of the _Enterprise_ would stir up some more memories.

Just then the door to his quarters buzzed.

Short update, I know, but than nothing, right? Next chapter Bones get his tour of the _Enterprise_. If anyone has any ideas or suggestions for flashbacks or memories just pm me. There's a new poll in my profile. The poll's to decide what story I do after Lost Bone.


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